1. For some time now preparations have been going on
for the next ordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place in
Rome in autumn of next year. The theme of the Synod, "The role of the Christian
family," concentrates our attention on this community of human and Christian
life, which has been fundamental from the beginning. The Lord Jesus used
precisely this expression "from the beginning" in the talk about
marriage, reported in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark. We wish to raise
the question what this word "beginning" means. We also wish to clarify why
Christ referred to the "beginning" on that occasion and, therefore, we propose a
more precise analysis of the relative text of Holy Scripture.

Clear-cut responses

2. During the talk with the Pharisees, who asked him
the question about the indissolubility of marriage, Jesus Christ referred twice
to the "beginning." The talk took place in the following way:

"And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking,
'Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?' He answered, 'Have you not
read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and
said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to
his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one
flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.' They
said to him, 'Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce,
and to put her away?' He said to them, 'For your hardness of heart Moses allowed
you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so'" (Mt 19:3ff.,
cf. also Mk 10:2ff.).

Christ did not accept the discussion at the level at
which his interlocutors tried to introduce it. In a certain sense he did not
approve of the dimension that they tried to give the problem. He avoided getting
caught up in juridico-casuistical controversies. On the contrary, he referred
twice to "the beginning." Acting in this way, he made a clear reference to the
relative words in Genesis, which his interlocutors too knew by heart. From those
words of the ancient revelation, Christ drew the conclusion and the talk ended.

From the beginning

3. "The beginning" means, therefore, that which
Genesis speaks about. Christ quoted Genesis 1:27 in summary form: "In
the beginning the Creator made them male and female." The original passage reads
textually as follows: "God created man in his own image; in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them." Subsequently, the Master referred
to Genesis 2:24: "Therefore, a man leaves his father and his mother and
cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." Quoting these words almost in
full, Christ gave them an even more explicit normative meaning (since it could
be supported that in Genesis they express de facto statements:
"leaves. cleaves. they become one flesh"). The normative meaning is plausible
since Christ did not confine himself only to the quotation itself, but added:
"So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined
together, let not man put asunder." That "let not man put asunder" is decisive.
In the light of these words of Christ, Genesis 2:24 sets forth the
principle of the unity and indissolubility of marriage as the very content of
the Word of God, expressed in the most ancient revelation.

The eternal law

4. It could be maintained at this point that the
problem is exhausted, that Jesus Christ's words confirm the eternal law
formulated and set up by God from "the beginning" as the creation of man. It
might also seem that the Master, confirming this original law of the Creator,
did nothing but establish exclusively his own normative meaning, referring to
the authority itself of the first Legislator. However, that significant
expression "from the beginning," repeated twice, clearly induced his
interlocutors to reflect on the way in which man was formed in the mystery of
creation, precisely as "male and female," in order to understand correctly the
normative sense of the words of Genesis. This is no less valid for the
people of today than for those of that time. Therefore, in the present study,
considering all this, we must put ourselves precisely in the position of
Christ's interlocutors today.

Preparation for the Synod

5. During the following Wednesday reflections at the
general audiences, we will try, as Christ's interlocutors today, to dwell at
greater length on St. Matthew's words (19:3ff.). To respond to the indication,
inserted in them by Christ, we will try to penetrate toward that "beginning," to
which he referred in such a significant way. Thus we will follow from a distance
the great work which participants in the forthcoming Synod of Bishops are
undertaking on this subject just now. Together with them, numerous groups of
pastors and laymen are taking part in it, feeling especially responsible with
regard to the role which Christ assigned to marriage and the Christian family,
the role that he has always given, and still gives in our age, in the modern
world.

The cycle of reflections we are beginning today, with
the intention of continuing it during the following Wednesday meetings, also has
the purpose, among other things, of accompanying from afar, so to speak, the
work of preparation for the Synod. However, it will not touch its subject
directly, but will turn our attention to the deep roots from which this subject
springs.